Argentinian farmers reduce crop loss with laser19 September 2018

Turret-mounted lasers that deter birds have found to reduce crop losses 70-90% in field trials in Argentina.

Bird Control Group conducted trials and demonstrations sponsored by the Dutch government, and in collaboration with Argentina’s national agricultural research centre INTA. Birds are startled by the laser and disperse when it is directed near them.

For example, the remote-controlled laser was tested on two of four identical fields of 0.6 hectares each, in collaboration with the Argentinean Agroberries. The number of birds observed was much higher (154) on two unprotected fields than on the ones that were protected by the laser (31). “This is a nice result especially because blueberries have a very high cost value per hectare,” says Imre Knol, commercial director of Bird Control Group. Similar results were found with other crops, including grapes and sunflowers.

The Agrilaser Autonomic has been developed by Bird Control Group in collaboration with TU Delft. The technology is used not only in agriculture, but also in aviation, oil and gas, the real estate sector and many more applications.